Not quite steamrollers Kevin - steam driven vehicles preceded the internal combustion engine on the road

"The Early Days

Prior to the appearance of the first railways in Britain, there was a brief development and interest in steam powered road going vehicles. In 1834, a Mr Hancock started a steam coach called the "Era", carrying up to 14 passengers from Paddington to Regents Park and the City at 6d a head. In the following year, a Mr Church built an omnibus capable of carrying 40 passengers for the London and Birmingham Steam Carriage Company.

However, the success of the railway movement drove all such traffic off the roads. A Parliamentary Commission of Enquiry in 1836 reported "strongly in favour of steam carriages on roads", but subsequent Acts of Parliament tended to have a discouraging and restrictive effect. The Locomotive Act 1861 limited the weight of steam engines to 12 tonnes and imposed a speed limit of 10 mph. The Locomotive Act 1865 set a speed limit of 4 mph in the country and 2 mph in towns. The 1865 Act also provided for the then famous "man with a red flag". Walking 60 yards ahead of each vehicle, a man with a red flag or lantern enforced a walking pace, and warned horse riders and horse drawn traffic of the approach of a self propelled machine.

The Locomotive Amendment Act 1878 made the red flag optional under local regulations, and reduced the distance of the warning to a more manageable 20 yards. But this did not make life much easier for the motorist. Although British engineers were working on electrical and combustion engines, and motor vehicles had been patented as early as 1882, they were never developed."

Stu